Just a few shops away from Tune Hotel, Johor Bahru, sets 7 Spice, a double-storey Indian restaurant with a distinct number 7 signboard. The restaurant is separated into two parts, second floor serves assorted breads made of different wheat and flour whereas the first floor serves “banana leaf” rice. Most probably because the breads are what people usually have during breakfast, the restaurant has another name particularly for this dining section called ‘Breakfast at 7′ despite the food are served from 8am to 10pm.
Channa Bhatura. It is the big brother of Poori which has similar earthy, floury flavour you might find in Chapati, though this is more oily. The side dish is chickpeas simmered in a tomato-onion base. The Bhatura did look exciting at first glance, sadly the chickpeas were too predictable.
Two side dishes came together with the rice – squashed pumpkin with potato and okra. The pumpkin based curry was quite savoury with the right sweetness to compliment the salty-based dish.
The Basmati rice was somewhat plain and not as aromatic as expected.
Presumably, saffron was added considering the colour of the Biryani. The rice itself was not that spicy, just a little kick, however still fell short of attractiveness.
We ordered two extra side dishes – Andhra Chicken and Onion Pakora (fried onion). The gravy for the chicken was packed with spices which tasted unlike any regular chicken curry and I enjoyed quite a lot, unfortunately the fried onions had turned soggy.
Another thing which I liked was the Lassi yogurt drink. (Fun Facts: Yogurt and sweet stuffs are effective in easing spiciness! Try it yourself!)
It was kind of a disappointing experience as we had expected much more. Technically the ambience was much better than many Indian restaurants, if only the standard of the food was equally memorable.
rline;”>7 Spice Indian Cuisine
G-01, Danga Bay, Jalan Skudai, 80200 Johor Bahru, Johor.
Tel: 607 2356969
